Beer barrel bung



July 10, 1934. 5 GABEL T A 1,966,384

BEER BARREL BUNG Filed Oct. 28, 1933 Patented July 10, 193

ISamuelGab'eI; G m v gjmry i lptnatotlemm 28, 1933, Serial-No.':;695,670 g This invention relates. tofa bung especially intendedfor use on'beerb'arrels, and has for an object to provide a bung whichwill have all the strength of the normal bung and yet at the same J timewherein the spigot may be driven into the barrel through the bung withmuch less difliculty.

A further object of this invention is to provide a beer barrel bungwhich will allow the stopper portion to be easily driven therefrom bythe spigt without exerting more than the minimum strain on the annulusof the bung, thus eliminating the possibility of splitting the annulus.

A further object of this invention is to provide a beer bung which is animprovement over the 1. bung disclosed in the pending application,Serial No. 689,626, filed September 15, 1933, by the same inventors.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, as will hereinafter becomeapparent, this invention comprises the constructions, combinations andarrangements of parts, hereinafter set forth, claimed and illustrated inthe accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a vertical portion of a beer keg or 5 barrel showing thisimproved bung mounted thereon.

Fig. 2 is a front view of the improved bung.

Fig. 3 is a rear view of the same.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 39 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view showing the stopper portion in theprocess of dropping away from the bung as the spigot is being driventherethrough. There is shown at a fragmentary portion of the beer barrelhaving a bung hole 11 closed by the bung 12, through which the spigot 13is to be driven. The bung 12 includes the annulus portion 14 which fitswithin the bung'hole 11 and the stopper portion 15, which closes theopening 16 through the annulus portion 14.

One great defect of beer bungs as conventionally made is that the spigot13, when driven through the bung 12, is very apt to split the 4 annulusportion 14 as it knocks the stopper portion away therefrom. This ishighly undesirable for obvious reasons in that it allows the contents ofthe barrel to escape through the split and further allows the gaspressure within @Q the contents to be reduced, due to the escape throughthe split annulus. The purpose of this improvement is to eliminate thisundesirable feature.

In the front of the stopper portion 15 a cir- ;cular groove 17 iscountersunk on the front wall 18" of'thestoppenportion 15. This grooveI' 7 is circular, corresponding to the shape of the inside of theaperture 16, and is of slightly lesser diameter than the diameter of theaperture 16 but concentric therewith, thereby providing a shoulder 18between the groove 1'7 and the side walls of the annulus portion 16.

An annular groove 19 is cut into the rear wall 20 of the stopper portion15, it being observed that the diameter of the groove 19 is greater boththan the diameter of the groove 17 and of the annulus aperture 16.

It will be observed that the added depth of the grooves 17 and 19 isless than the thickness of the stopper portion 15.

In operation the spigot 13 is driven through the bung 12 in theconventional manner, the end of the spigot 13 being placed against thefront Wall 18' of the stopper portion 15 and being driven thereagainstby a sharp blow, thereby forcing the stopper portion 15 away from theannulus 14. Due to the presence of the grooves 17 and 19, the stopper 15breaks away between the bottom of the grooves 17 and 19, as shown at 21in Figure 5, the thickness of the material joining the bottom of thesetwo grooves 17 and 19 being substantially less than the thickness of theannulus 14.

As a result of this, the stopper portion 15 breaks away much morequickly and easily than with the conventional bung and gives way beforeany substantial strain can be transmitted to the annulus portion 14,thereby eliminating the possibility of splitting the annulus.Furthermore, the annulus 14 is reinforced by the greater thicknessthereof, due to the presence of the shoulder 18 between the groove 17and the walls of the aperture annulus 16.

On the other hand, in so far as serving as an effective closure member,the bung of this invention is just as strong as the conventional bung,for the pressure exerted on the back face 20 of the stopper portion 15is transmitted through the joining section to the annulus 14. The bungis, therefore, just as strong as the conventional bung in so far assealing the contents of the barrel is concerned, but is much more easilyopened due to the presence of these concentric grooves at the oppositesides of the stopper portion 15.

The novel features and the operation of this device will be apparentfrom the foregoing description. While the device has been shown and thestructure described in detail, it is obvious that this is not to beconsidered limited to the exact form disclosed and that any changes maybe made therein within the scope of what is claimed without departingfrom the spirit of this invention.

Having thus set forth and disclosed the nature of this invention, whatis claimed is:

1. A bung comprising an annulus portion, a stopper portion, said annulusportion having an aperture leading to said stopper portion, and anannular groove cut into the face of said stopper portion, the diameterof said annular groove being slightly less than the diameter of saidannulus portion, thereby providing a shoulder between the groove and theannulus aperture.

2. A beer barrel bung comprising an annulus portion, a stopper portion,said annulus portion having an aperture leading to said stopper portion,a groove concentric with said annulus aperture and of lesser diametercut into the face of said stopper portion, and an annular groove ofgreater diameter than the diameter of said annulus portion cut into therear face of said stopper portion.

3. A beer barrel bung comprising an annulus portion, a stopper portion,said annulus portion having an aperture leading to said stopper portion,a groove concentric with said annulus aperture and of lesser diametercut into the face of said stopper portion, and an annular groove cutinto the rear face of said stopper portion, the added depth as of saidgrooves being less than the thickness of the stopper portion.

4. A beer barrel bung comprising an annulus portion, a stopper portion,said annulus portion having an aperture leading to said stopper portion,a groove concentric with said annulus aperture and of lesser diametercut into the face of said stopper portion, and an annular groove ofgreater diameter than the diameter of said annulus portion cut into therear face of said stopper portion, the added depth as of said groovesbeing less than the thickness of the stopper portion.

SAMUEL GABEL. DAVID A. FENICHELL.

